DROMEDARY Executive Officer Techi Basi kept a stern eye upon the multiple visual feeds upon the hard light display at her station. All departments aboard the Transport checked green as the training drill came to its conclusion. To the XO’s assessment, there were far too many crewmembers aboard and too many departments. With minimal human and alien beings aboard, the Transport’s AI could handle the majority of the necessary functions. A small cadre of Manu’s would round out what was required to properly run a Corporate Transport. Yet the Dromedary officially logged one hundred fifty registered gestated crewmembers, seventy bonded and free contracted Manu’s along with two hundred paying passengers and a full cargo hold aboard.
Despite what was obviously a waste of resources and cargo space, the XO fully admitted the Dromedary’s eccentric Captain consistently brought in hefty quarterly profits. It was those profits which kept the EPIMETHEUS SUPPLY Co-Op's Admin molecule-counters out their hair and allowed extravagances aboard a CENTAUR-CLASS Corporate Cargo Transport that were reserved only for VIP Hoppers! XO Basi knew she’d never be a second officer let alone captain a Luxury Transport. As a Modified Human Grade 1.5, at best she might be able to contract aboard one as low level security. She was smart enough for military service but wasn’t physically modded’ enough to qualify for basic infantry.
However, it was Captain Gital who brought her on with him aboard the DROMEDARY when he initially picked up the rare spot to be the Executive Officer. Basi knew him during their days in Occupational Training. When she got his call, there was a slot open for a Cargo Security Officer. Her only other option was to bilge out to the Corporate Fleet to work as Undesignated Labor. After the DROMEDARY’S previous captain was stricken with Stasis Sickness, the Corporate Office temporarily slotted Gital in as Captain. After twenty ESY’s, Gital still only held temporary status because as an MHG-1 he’s technically considered unqualified to be Captain. Basi grinned at that assumption. For though Gital had strange notions about passing Bubble Time during transit, the DROMEDARY and its crew functioned efficiently as any Military Transport!
If in the absolutely unlikely event something did go wrong, crew readiness was good as it could possibly be. Where the Transport truly brought in its Capital Credits was from the many passengers regularly taken aboard. Bookings aboard the DROMEDARY were backlogged for twenty-two Earth Standard Years! When they reached AIPOTU, they already had two hundred plus passengers standing by to get underway.
Word of mouth got out about the ‘unique’ and exciting methods of spending Bubble Time aboard a simple cargo transport could be. Gital played no favorites concerning Modification Level. If a passenger could pay for the berth, they were welcome aboard. There were even Manu passengers! Passengers could spend their time in Stasis or enjoy a few days or weeks in Bubble Time doing the things they’d heard about.
Of course, the Corporate Office got word of what was going on and sent an inspector to shut Gital down. Two weeks in Bubble Time learning how to ‘Limbo’ and Sword Fight like an Ancient ‘Musketeer’ and the Inspector became one of their regulars! Basi thought it funny how Corporate tried to emulate what the Dromedary did aboard other Transports only to fail like a collapsed star! She figured if they were smart, they would bump Gital up to Corporate and have him set up an entire line. But that would never happen. Far as they were concerned, he was just a Mod-1 and when his profitability waned, Corporate would shit can him and her.
All she could do was keep saving her capital chits and make small investments where and when she could. Eventually, this good run would end. Basi liked being XO and wouldn’t mind one day sitting in the Captain’s jumpseat aboard her own Transport. She’d Particle Wave Transport herself into the Galactic Core before she let the Corporate Office bilge her out to the fleet! Basi let that awful prospect flit away as she gave the status report. “Ahl Depahtments check Green Cahptain. Emergency Drill evolution stahnds successfully completed!”
The Captain gave the ‘all clear’ and the crew stood down for a well deserved break while the Dromedary’s AI took the Control. The XO noticed the crew was in much better spirits on this run. Usually just before they dropped back into real-space, there was a noticeable drag on their performance. Most times crewmembers were distracted by pending Liberty calls planetside. AIPOTU was one of the Transport’s best planetary calls, yet the crew was sharp and clear-headed. Even Captain Gital seemed to have been rejuvenated. Basi knew there could only be one reason for everyone’s high morale and that was the Manu, Pandora 001.
How anyone let alone a Manu could be so popular mystified the XO. Of course there was the usual ad nauseum marketing hype sent out for three ESY’s about the coming of ZEUS INTERSTELLAR INDUSTRIES new android. It shouldn’t have been that big a deal. Yet when it was announced Captain Gital was the ‘lucky winner’ to Beta Test ZII’s new prototype, everyone aboard the transport except her acted like they had won. Basi had to admit, the combination of ZII, the PROMETHEUS GROUP and HEPHESTUS CORP made for one damn fine android!
‘Pandora’ as the Captain dubbed her was annoyingly ‘likeable’. So likeable, the crew officially adopted her as the Transport’s mascot. They even put her caricature on the new crew patch! Once the DROMEDARY got back into real space, they would send the design to the corporate office to make it official. Basi did not appreciate being soundly beaten at arm wrestling by the bubbly, bimbo, boob-bot during the Barbecue Beach Party. Being the highest modified human on the crew, Basi hadn’t lost a test of strength since coming aboard. At least the damn Manu was good at filling in around the Transport and keeping the passengers entertained.
The strangest effect Pandora had was on the Captain. Despite being an ordinary human, Gital always possessed an air of confidence even when higher Mods were looking down their noses at him. Still being a baseline human, few if any gestated females wished to exchange genetic material with him. Since the arrival of Pandora, Basi noticed Gital’s sudden popularity with the female passengers.
At first she thought all the requests to dine at the ‘Captain’s Table’ were just to get close to the android. Then it became apparent when requests to tour the Transport or dance with the Captain alone started piling up, Basi recognized it wasn’t the boob-bot those females were after! Somehow, the android managed to ‘unlock’ Gital’s potential as a mate. The XO couldn’t decide whether that was a good or bad thing for her or the Transport?
© 2012 H. Wolfgang Porter. All Rights Reserved.
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